Polarized air bearing assembly

ABSTRACT

A bearing assembly for use in supporting a gyro rotor in a missile during flight in a missile trajectory. During acceleration the outer bearing support is supported by a mounting plate. Air under pressure is utilized to provide an air bearing film to support a hemispherical outer bearing support of the rotor for rotation around the stator during deceleration. A pin secures the rotor in place during shipment or storage and is sheared during missile acceleration.

United States Patent [1 1 Stripling [111 3,789,677 [451 Feb. 5; 1974POLARIZED AIR BEARING ASSEMBLY [75] Inventor: William W. Stripling,Huntsville,

Ala.

[73] Assignee: The United States of America as represented by theSecretary of the Army, Washington, DC

[22] Filed: Sept. 19, 1972 21 Appl. No.: 290,289

[52] US. Cl. 74/5.7, 308/DIG. l [51] Int. Cl G010 19/20 [58] Field ofSearch 308/DIG. 1; 74/5 R, 5.7, 5.1

[56] References Cited v UNITED STATES PATENTS 3/1966 Unterberger..74/5.7 1/1951 Dawson ..74/5.7

3/1961 Cook 74/5 R X 3/1966 Schulien et a]. 74/5 R PrimaryExaminerManuel A. Antonakas Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Edward J. Kelly;Herbert Berl; Charles R. Carter [57] ABSTRACT 2 Claims, 2 DrawingFigures POLARIZED AIR BEARING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Thisinvention relates to polarized air bearing assemblies. Because terminalguided missiles experience high acceleration shock when launched from acannon (12,000-1 5,000 Gs) conventional gyro and seeker bearing designis difficult and expensive. This high acceleration shock overstressesthe forward area of a conventional spherical hydrostatic air bearingdesign and this same bearing area is unloaded during the deceleration orterminal phase of the trajectory. Alignment of the two halves of theconventional hydrostatic air bearing is extremely critical. Anymisalignment results in excessive drift. The cost of proper alignment isapproximately half the cost of the total gyro.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention may be better understood fromthe following detailed description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawing.

BRlEF DESCRlPTlON OF THE DRAWlNGS FIG. 1 is a diagrammatical view of theassembly prior to missile acceleration.

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatical view of the assembly during missiledeceleration.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Reference numeral indicates partof a missle housing having a mounting plate 12 attached thereto. A shaft14 has one end mounted on plate 12 and a spherical gyro stator 16 isconnected to the opposite end of the shaft. Gyro rotor 18 is integrallyconnected to a hemispherical outer bearing support 20. Air underpressure is supplied by conduit 22 to the stator. Restrictors 24 allowpassage for the air to be introduced at points between the stator andthe rotor to provide an air bearing film therebetween.

In the position shown in FIG. 1, just prior to acceleration, the rotoris secured to an extension 12' of the mounting plate by a shear pin 26.A recess 28 is provided between the mounting plate extension and thehemispherical outer bearing support 20. When the missile is fired from acannon inertia causes rotor 18 to shift its position in H6. 1 therebyshearing pin 26. The support 20 will engage with and be supported andheld stationary by the plate 12 and its extension 12'. When the missileenters its deceleration phase, the rotor is spun up by means (notshown), support 20 then is supported by the air bearing film and therotor is solely supported by air bearing film for rotation around thestator 16 until missile trajectory termination.

I claim:

1. A polarized air bearing assembly for use in supporting a gyro in amissile comprising: a mounting plate attached to said missile; a shafthaving an end mounted on said plate; a spherical gyro stator connectedto the opposite end of said shaft; a gyro rotor disposed for rotationaround said stator, said rotor including a single hemispherical outerbearing support; said stator provided with a plurality of restrictorsfor introducing air under pressure to a point between said stator andsaid outer bearing support to form an air bearing film therebetween; andmeans for securing said hemispherical outer bearing support to saidmounting plate.

2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said securing means is ashear pin and said mounting plate is provided with a recess to allowmovement of said hemispherical outer bearing support and said mountingplate for shearing said pin.

1. A polarized air bearing assembly for use in supporting a gyro in a missile comprising: a mounting plate attached to said missile; a shaft having an end mounted on said plate; a spherical gyro staTor connected to the opposite end of said shaft; a gyro rotor disposed for rotation around said stator, said rotor including a single hemispherical outer bearing support; said stator provided with a plurality of restrictors for introducing air under pressure to a point between said stator and said outer bearing support to form an air bearing film therebetween; and means for securing said hemispherical outer bearing support to said mounting plate.
 2. An assembly as set forth in claim 1 wherein said securing means is a shear pin and said mounting plate is provided with a recess to allow movement of said hemispherical outer bearing support and said mounting plate for shearing said pin. 